Currently, some system data bus architectures (e.g., an ARINC plastic optical fiber (POF) 629 data bus) employed in aircraft (e.g., a modern aircraft) require an individually packaged optical media converter (OMC) for each channel. They also require individually packaged passive optical star couplers. These individually packaged units are interconnected together by fully jacketed aircraft POF cables that are subjected to abuse during installation. The connectors required for these packages are not only heavy, bulky, and costly, but also add significant optical attenuation to the system's optical power budget. The optical media converters (OMCs) and optical star couplers also require custom designed support brackets and rails to mount them to the aircraft structure members. Each OMC (which contains a transmit (Tx) optical sub-assembly (OSA) and a receive (Rx) OSA) and optical star coupler must be manufactured and tested individually, thereby incurring much more time and cost. When an OMC fails, an aircraft mechanic must remove it and install a new OMC in its place, which requires additional time and cost. As such, there is a need for an improved data bus architecture design.